chief of staff

noun phrase

1
: the ranking officer of a staff in the armed forces serving as principal adviser to a commander
2
: the ranking officer of the army or air force and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Examples of chief of staff in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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As chief of staff to the governor, he was involved with a plan to purge official emails in an apparent violation of the state’s open records laws, drawing a legal challenge from a former attorney on the governor’s staff. Eileen Sullivan, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2025 The mayor’s chief of staff was given a raise to $60,000 along the same party-line vote. Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 7 Feb. 2025 Besides being chief of staff, Adams appointed Bliss in 2022 to chair the Land Development Corporation, an entity that must ultimately sign off on the Innovation East project. Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 6 Feb. 2025 The immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller, who is now Trump’s deputy chief of staff, and his fellow conservative intellectual Michael Anton, who is also at the State Department, are among this cohort. Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for chief of staff 

Word History

First Known Use

1862, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of chief of staff was in 1862

Dictionary Entries Near chief of staff

Cite this Entry

“Chief of staff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chief%20of%20staff. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

chief of staff

1
: the ranking officer of a staff in the armed forces who advises a commander
2
: the ranking officer of the army or air force
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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